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I have been musing about the “managerial rub-off effect” for a long time. Essentially, the hypothesis is that if you have a great manager, it would have a positive rub-off on you, and you would manage your team well in turn. What it means is sub-cultures get easily created within an organization by managers and there could be positive and negative aspects to it based on how managers manage. Here is a simple matrix to explain what I am talking about:

Optimized: Managers who have great bosses create high levels of engagement within their teams

Concern: Managers who do not have great bosses, in turn are not able to create high levels of engagement with their teams

Striving: Talented in terms of people management - these managers create highly engaged teams, despite not having great bosses.

Sub-optimal: Despite having a great boss, these managers are not able to pass on the “rub-off” effect to their teams. Possible talent issues, poor selection of teams, need for coaching?

In one of my drill-downs into employee data, I found that in almost 65-70% of the cases there is a direct linkage between how a manager is managed and how he manages. This clearly indicates the power of managers to create sub-cultures within organizations (with positive or negative weaves). This makes a strong case for senior managers to lead by example when it comes to people management and thus, foster a productive and engaged workplace.